In college, back in 96, there was a total solar eclipse in India. On an impulse I took a train to the nearest place where I could watch it. This happened to be a remote desert village in Rajasthan.

I showed up there with absolutely no plan, the evening before the eclipse (which was the next morning) and just a daypack with a change of clothes and a toothbrush. No food either, and this was a tiny enough village that there were no shops. Just a few farmers' houses in a cluster amidst large wheat fields.

As I was standing around in the middle of a wheat field looking helplessly around wondering which tree to sleep under that night and what I'd do for food, one of the villagers (one of the wealthier local farmers) stopped by chatted, and invited me to spend the night at his place and have dinner with his family.

So I did. Fantastic time, the sort of village food you cannot get anywhere for money, and an evening of conversations with basically the entire village, as one of my hosts took me around to meet people (it was a small village, so it basically amounted to walking to the village square and hanging out with people).